Feds nab $400,000 bound for Mexico during interstate traffic stop in Sumter County

Tuesday

Dec 10, 2013 at 3:00 PMDec 10, 2013 at 3:56 PM

Federal officials seized nearly $400,000 after stopping a Mexico-bound passenger bus in Sumter County on Sunday.Investigators found $386,900 stuffed in suitcases aboard the bus, according to a press release from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

By Stephanie TaylorStaff Writer | The Tuscaloosa News

Federal officials seized nearly $400,000 after stopping a Mexico-bound passenger bus in Sumter County on Sunday.Investigators found $386,900 stuffed in suitcases aboard the bus, according to a press release from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.The three Mexican nationals claimed they were unaware the money was in their luggage, the release stated.Agents with the 17th Alabama Judicial Drug Task Force stopped the bus on Interstate 20/59 in Cuba, near the Alabama-Mississippi state line, on Sunday. They searched the bus after a drug-sniffing dog indicated the presence of drugs.In one suitcase, the agents found $86,900 wrapped in cellophane and hidden inside a blanket. They found $155,000 stuffed inside hollowed-out women’s wedge shoes in a second suitcase and $145,000 stuffed in shoes in a third suitcase. ICE investigators seized the money.“Seizing the ill-gotten proceeds of criminal organizations is a highly effective law-enforcement tool because it removes the profit incentive and hampers their ability to fund further illicit actions,” said Raymond R. Parmer Jr., special agent in charge of HSI New Orleans. Parmer oversees a five-state area that includes Alabama. “This case is a prime example of local and federal authorities working together to identify, disrupt and dismantle criminal activities.”None of the passengers was charged, although a federal investigation could lead to possible criminal charges in the future, said Bryan Cox, spokesman for ICE’s New Orleans division.Because the passengers didn’t claim ownership of the money and were bound for Mexico, the money would have crossed an international border and was a potential violation of bulk-cash smuggling laws, he said.